


Easter Egg MakoRin in S3?

by brittle_bottle



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 15:50:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15754854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brittle_bottle/pseuds/brittle_bottle
Summary: Please don't attack. I think although this is quite high key desperate makorin, it's quite justified...-quietly celebrates S3 makorin in the corner-





	Easter Egg MakoRin in S3?

**Free! Episode 4 Season 3**  
“That’s pretty good! A race with the right to be Ikuya’s friend on the line! But I specialize in the backstroke. And Nanase-kun... you only swim free, am I right? That’s fine, though. I can swim freestyle too. So what do you say? Do you want to race?” the provoking spectacled boy sneers.

  
Makoto flinches at the mention of the stroke he specializes in. Suddenly, a scene comes into mind.

  
_**Free! Episode 9 Season 2** _  
_“What about you?” his determined shark-toothed friend asked._  
_“Huh?”_  
_“With your skill, some scouts should have talked to you.”_

  
_Makoto’s breath hitched in surprise._

  
_He struggled to simultaneously calm his speeding heart and make sense of this foreign situation._

  
_He was more often than not, the caretaker of the group, the one asking how everyone is doing. It was rare that he found himself on this end, being the person having to answer such question._

  
With incredibly skilled swimmers like Rin and Haru around him, Makoto’s swimming skill is rarely the topic of the conversation. Makoto himself never thought about it either. Before then, he never even considered himself having any swimming skill worth mentioning.

  
But what was more surprising is that he was hearing it from the only person he was jealous of.

  
Rin was the total opposite of Makoto. His passion. His determination. His straightforwardness.

  
They were all qualities Makoto lacked and secretly longed to have. And through these qualities, Rin managed to bond with Haru in a way Makoto never even dared to imagine is possible for him. Before he knew it, he strived to be Rin, to the point of him challenging Haru.

  
In said challenge, he experienced a high he has never felt before. His normally composed, collected self was wrecked by a debilitating desire to win, to prove to Haru that they could also have the same bond he and Rin had. Due to this desperation, he did not pace himself well and lost by a large margin in the last leg.

  
In spite of it all, he did manage to swim a match with Haru, a feat that lingered in his mind since the first time he saw Rin raced Haru. Now that he had done it, the anxiety of not being even remotely good enough, the worry of a potential conflict arising from such match and the fear of facing a scarring defeat, all of which had previously drowned him senseless, did not seem to matter as much anymore.

  
Rather than that, a more apparent feeling was the pride swelling inside him, filling every inch of his body with a pleasant warmth. Part of the reason behind this pride is his attainment of having a deeper understanding of his opponent but the main reason was the fact that he took a huge leap from his comfort zone. Through this experience, he gained an ample boost of courage and confidence. He has changed.

  
And it would not be wrong to say that Rin brought this change upon him albeit indirectly.

  
So in this very moment, the Makoto who is standing behind Haru, takes faith in Rin’s acknowledgement of his skills and relives the empowering state he felt after he challenged Haru under the influence of his jealousy towards Rin.

He steps forward, shifting from being behind Haru to being in front of him. He looks at Hiyori straight in the eyes and firmly declares,

  
“If you want it to be backstroke, I’ll race you."

 


End file.
